Venice!

We finally left Florence, taking a fast train to Venice. We pulled into the station in Venice, walked outside with our bags and found the city "bus" that we were to take to our hotel. It was a cloudy day but this did nothing to dampen my astonishment at seeing a city truly built on water.

By the time we arrived at our hotel, the day was brightening a bit and we were treated with this view. Our hotel was wonderfully located with a true residential area behind us and in this direction an ever increasing density of tourism, culminating in St. Mark's Square under the tower in the distance. The building with yellow trim in the foreground is out "bus" stop.

Our first site upon exiting the hotel was the towing of a giant cruise ship out to sea. This shot was taken from our fourth floor hotel window and gives some idea of how this behemoth dwarfed the buildings surrounding the canal.